@johnnymarr:
If Larry doesn’t take into consideration Vichy France, then that will be a big blunder.
Per LH
FYI - After wrestling with this Vichy siht, I decided to skip the whole thing. France will be considered an ally power and that’s it. The confusion generated by the Vichy loyalty thing is just not worth the extra game steps. Also… perhaps I did not mention this but if and when France is liberated it reappears as a self-standing power with its own economy. The rule may end up providing France with an automatic influx of new units appearing on the board. - I’m still toying with this idea. It’s got to be simple and instinctive.
Aw, France should switch sides during the game, Marshal Petain in VF was a total German collaborator, probably worse than Quisling in Norway. Vichy France paid millions of francs to “sustain occupying forces” for Germany (spoils), was totally controlled by the SS and was compliant in persecutions, plus there were some French who joined anti-communism divisions and definitely worked with the German authorities.
At this time in history, after the Great Depression of the 30’s, democracies were seen as inherently “weak” and prone to lacking the resolve to combat the helplessness caused by the failure of the world economic system. Fascism was seen as a viable alternative to democratic governments ruled by the whims of public opinion and the depressed economy. The rise of Nazi Germany was mostly done the same way that other governments got out of the depression, lots and lots of govt. spending, but you couldn’t tell that the rebuilding of Germany from WWI wasn’t ALL due to the switch to fascism.
At the beginning of WWII, Germany had just burst out of its borders and was seen as unstoppable in taking over all of Europe and possibly the world. France at this junction was trying to make the most out of a bad situation and there were definitely willing collaborators trying to get as much out of the new world order as they could. There was definitely some resistance, too, but for the most part the French realized they had been beaten and knew they had to go along with the Jerries for quite some time before help would come.
Let whichever side controls Paris have the French on their team! The Free french could be under control of the British player, and if the Allies liberate Paris, have the dice rolled again to see if the territories revert back to Allied control! Would be funny as hell to see France switch sides 3-4 times per game!